Friday 10 february 2012 will be in our memory forever! We skated the Elfstedentocht in a group of eight: Caspar Hermans, Pieter Booij, Dave Wendt, Ad Bakker, William Stokman, Kerst de Vries Ramon Smolders &  Rob Faltin. South of Leeuwarden we started not before a short moment for the national anthem of Friesland performed by Rob Faltin on horn. Leaving almost with sunrise the Zwette (the way to Sneek) was quiet, only shared with some other groups with the same idea to do the Elfstedentocht today. It had a magical atmosphere.

We turned out to be a solid group and we maintained a pace that everyone could follow. Putting the strongest on top and the others to shelter behind them, we made it a successful and rewarding tour for everyone. We were supported by Jan de Vries who provided us coffee and food along the way in Stavoren, Bolsward and Franeker.

The ice was most of the time of excellent quality, and with the nice sunny weather we could experience the beauty of the Province of Friesland. After the finish we encountered the hospitality of the Friesian People: Fokke & Gerti offered us hot showers and a wonderful meal. Thank you guys so much for treating us so well.